The Woman in White de Wilkie Collins: Resumen, Personajes y Por Qué Leerla

BOOKTUBE: THE WOMAN IN WHITE

Hello, I’m Jessica del Valle and I am going to talk about this book. As you can see, the title is The Woman in White. The original date of publication was November 26, 1860, by Wilkie Collins at the age of 36. This book belongs to naturalism, as a literary movement. This decade was very different, with numerous cultural, social, and political changes in Europe and America. Also in that year, the presidential elections of Argentina were celebrated, to choose the successor of Justo José de Urquiza as president of the Argentine Confederation for the period 1860 to 1866. Finally, Santiago Derqui was chosen president.

The story is about the unequal position between men and women, especially in social conventions such as marriage, an institution that he would always criticize. He himself lived with two women and their children, with the mutual consent of the parties involved and without marrying.

Personajes principales

I consider that in this novel the main characters are:

• Walter Hartright
• Laura Fairlie
• Marian Halcombe
• Anne Catherick
• Frederick Fairlie

El conflicto principal

The main conflict arises when Percival marries Laura for money. He wants to get her to sign a document that will make her lose all her fortune, but she falls ill before she can be warned. Percival and his friend Fosco devise a plan: they will exchange Laura for the young woman dressed in white, who is terminally ill in the asylum. Thus, pretending her death, they won’t have to wait for her to sign.

At the end of the story comes the news that Count Fosco had appeared dead in Paris, in the river Seine. The following year, Walter and Laura have their first child. Little Walter was left with the inheritance of Mr. Fairlie due to his death.

Mi recomendación

Finally, I want to recommend this book because I liked how the different points of view create an absorbing atmosphere of intrigue and suspense that emerges from the first page.

The characters are complex in their psychology, brightened by Count Fosco, an excellent and charming villain, and the magnificent female portrait of Marian Halcombe, a woman marked by intelligence and self-confidence.

Público recomendado

The audience that will enjoy this reading is teenagers.